Analysis: Keir Starmer's Credibility Problem On Immigration Means He Can't Out-Farage Farage

Keir Starmer pauses, during a press conference, ahead of the publication of the government’s Immigration White Paper, in London, Monday, May 12, 2025. Keir Starmer is certainly talking a good game when it comes to cutting immigration.The UK risks becoming “an island of strangers”, the prime minister said, unless something is done to reduce the numbers coming from abroad.He went even further in his foreword to the government’s immigration white paper, which was published this morning.“The damage [high immigration] has done to our country is incalculable,” Starmer thundered.It is no exaggeration to say that those words would not have been out of place coming from the mouth of Nigel Farage.And that is where the prime minister has a major problem. Because while the public expect the Reform UK leader to come out with anti-migrant rhetoric, whether they agree with it or not, it seems wholly out of place when uttered by Starmer.There’s a good reason for this, of course. Because he is the same Keir Starmer who, when running to be Labour leader at the start of 2020, pledged to “defend migrants’ rights” if he got the job.Back then, he wanted “an immigration system based on compassion and dignity”.The Tories have gleefully shared a video from that leadership campaign in which Starmer says: “The whole UK is better because of immigration.“If I’m honest, the Labour Party has been a bit scared of making the positive case for immigration for quite a number of years and I think we need to turn that round and broaden it out and make sure that people feel absolutely welcome here.“I do think, when we get into power, and we will get into power, that will require some changes at the Home Office to change that culture.”In another occasion five years ago, he said: “We welcome migrants, we don’t scapegoat them. Low wages, poor housing, poor public services, are not the fault of migrants. We have to make the case for the benefits of migration.”And as recently as 2022, Starmer told the CBI: “Migration is part of our national story – always has been, always will be and the Labour Party will never diminish the contribution it makes to our economy, to public services, to your businesses and our communities.”No wonder shadow home secretary Chris Philp says the PM “has no credibility on this issue”.According to the old joke, the secret to political success is authenticity. Once you can fake that, you’re onto a winner.The PM’s biggest problem on immigration is that voters suspect that what he said in the past on the issue represented the authentic view of a man who, as everyone knows, was a North London human rights lawyer before he was ever a politician.What he says now, many suspect, is what he thinks will win him support from those voters now flocking to Reform UK.Starmer may well find out the hard way that he simply cannot out-Farage Farage.Related...'Incredibly Depressing': Starmer Dubbed 'A Pound Shop Farage' Over Immigration CrackdownKeir Starmer To Announce Plan To Overhaul Britain's 'Broken' Immigration System

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